1. Field
The present disclosure relates to applications and user interfaces for mobile computing devices, and particularly to methods and systems for creating, publishing, sharing, and delivering mobile software applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cell phone data usage is on the rise. Phones may support the wireless application protocol (WAP), an international standard for applications that use wireless communication from mobile phones. Mobile data applications include SMS and the WAP browser, an Internet browser for accessing mobile web sites. Interactive and specialized kinds of applications are also in use.
Mobile usage patterns are different from desktop usage. Users may be on the move, in a movie line, on public transportation, or in a coffee shop and may have very short attention spans and may be in situations where it is very hard to type. Such a user may launch the browser and waits for the results. By the time the results are delivered to the mobile device, the user may have moved on to another task.
Further, mobile devices may have diverse non-standard feature sets and user interfaces. Phone manufacturer has a different way of presenting the user interface on the mobile device. Menus may be unique to a particular device, and users may have to learn where the application modules are and how to perform device setup. At any given time, there may be multiple mobile models supported by multiple mobile operators with diverse physical layouts, including QWERTY keyboards, keypads, thumb wheels, joy sticks, styluses, roller balls, etc.